1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pocket magnifiers and is specifically directed to a wallet card, such as a credit card, having a magnifying lens and light.
2. Prior Art
There have long been reading lenses and magnifying glasses available to assist people in reading books, documents and the like without the use of reading glasses. These are particularly useful when the person encounters small print during an activity which makes it inconvenient or difficult to stop and put on reading glasses.
As an example, a book mark such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,883 issued to R. L. Anthony on Jul. 14, 1964 may be integrally attached to a book such as a telephone directory or a dictionary, wherein the end of the book mark is provided with a sealed pocket for receiving a plastic magnifying lens. The magnifying lens may be moved up and down the page as desired to provide magnification of the text in the book. This permits the user to read the text without first putting on his eyeglasses.
A pocket magnifier such as that shown in U.S. Pat. 3,409,347 issued to R. Vogel on Nov. 5, 1968 includes a pocket pouch adapted to be carried in the breast or hip pocket of the user or in a purse or wallet. The lens is formed of a transparent plastic sheet material having a substantial degree of stiffness and having fresnel lens contours molded into its upper surface. The lens unit may be slidably retracted into and extended out of the pocket The pocket magnifier may be easily utilized to magnify small print and the like when the user is in a location where it is not feasible or desirable to stop an activity in order to put on reading glasses.
Other examples of special purposes magnifying lens structures are shown, by way of example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,889 entitled xe2x80x9cCosmetic Container Including Integrated Lens Structure,xe2x80x9d issued to S. Orentreich et al. on Aug. 30, 1977, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,610 entitled xe2x80x9cCard Carrying Microfilm and Associated Reading Lens and Process of Forming Same,xe2x80x9d issued to D. Adrian on Jul. 19, 1983.
With the ever expanding use of credit cards and other transaction cards, there is an increasing requirement that the card user be able to verify a transaction at the point-of-use. This means the user must be able to read the card invoice to determine the accuracy of the information before he signs the invoice to indicate his acceptance. Since most of the information on the invoice is impact printed either on a carbon set or carbonless form, the print is not only controlled in size but is often of a low contrast with respect to the base form paper. This makes the form difficult to read, particularly for those who normally require reading glasses. Also, when the transaction card is used, it is often not convenient to take the time to put on reading glasses before reviewing the card invoice. While the pocket magnifiers of the prior art could be used for this purpose, use of such devices requires a separate activity which does not provide a great improvement over the use of reading glasses. As a result, many credit card users simply do not take the time and effort to accurately verify a transaction at the point-of-sale, relying on the sales clerk for the accuracy of the information. A transaction card incorporating a magnifying lens has been proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application Kokai No. 2-56680 published Apr. 24, 1990.
It is, therefore, an object and feature of the subject invention to provide for a financial transaction card having an integral magnifying lens permitting the user to immediately verify financial transactions at the point-of-sale without first requiring that the user put on reading glasses or the like.
It is another object and feature of the invention to enhance the use of credit cards by permitting immediate verification of credit card transactions by users normally having difficulty in reading small print, without requiring an additional activity of locating a magnifying lens or putting on reading glasses.
It is another object and feature of the subject invention to provide for a credit card having an integral magnifying lens and adapted for enlarging the small print generally used in the confined space of the credit card transaction form.
It is yet another object and feature of the invention to provide for an integral lens in a financial transaction card wherein the lens does not interfere with the machine readable information required on the card in order to complete a point-of-sale transaction.
The subject invention is directed to a wallet card, such as a credit card or the like, which incorporates an integral magnifying lens. Use of the card of the subject invention automatically places a magnifying lens at the disposal of the user, whereby, for example, the user may immediately verify a financial transaction at the point-of-sale without first locating a magnifying glass or taking the time and effort to put on reading glasses. As an illustrative example, the invention is particularly useful when making credit card transactions during an activity where the user would not normally be wearing his reading glasses. For example, during sports activities or other types of activities where a person does not normally encounter reading material, it may be desirable to make a credit card transaction in order to pay for rental of equipment or user fees or the like. By using the credit card of the subject invention, the user can immediately read and verify the financial transaction at the point-of-sale by placing the magnifying lens incorporated in the credit card over the printed material on the transaction form. Thus, the print is magnified with the card used for the transaction, eliminating the need to locate a pocket magnifier or the time and effort required to put on reading glasses in order to verify the transaction.
In a preferred form of the invention, a typical card blank is subdivided into a plurality of zones, specifically a data zone and a non-data zone. The data zone is adapted for receiving and carrying machine readable information as prescribed by ISO standards. Information may be carried on the card in the form of a strip such as a magnetic strip including magnetically encoded information, embossed alpha numeric lettering for creating an imprint on the credit card transaction form, a bar code or variants thereof, and for electronic data, smart card IC contact area or contactless smart card keep out area, or a combination of smart card contact areas and contactless smart card keep out areas for so-called combi-cards. The non-data zone is generally free of any information required to be machine read, although this zone often includes identifying indicia, logo types and other information relating to the issuing institution. In one preferred form of the invention, a portion of the non-data zone includes an integral magnifying lens carried in and forming a part of the card. It has been found that a substantially rigid, transparent plastic material of a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the card base may be incorporated in a window provided in the base. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transparent plastic includes fresnel lens contours on one of its surfaces for defining a magnifying lens. By placing the lens in the non-data zone, the lens does not interfere with the machine transactions required in order to use the card for its primary purpose.
In a more specific embodiment of the invention, the lens is an elongated rectangle generally placed in parallel with the magnetic strip which is commonly attached to the back of the card. In this embodiment, there is no alteration of the data zone as commonly incorporated on cards.
A second embodiment of the invention incorporates a lens with a larger usable area. However, this particular embodiment requires alteration of the data zone. Depending on the issuing institution, one embodiment may be more desirable over the other, depending on the flexibility of the location and format of the data zones on the card.
In a typical wallet card, the base is made of a substantially semi-rigid plastic material which is printed on one or both sides and laminated with a thin material on both the top surface and the bottom surface thereof. The card may include identifying indicia, logotypes and the like on the top, a magnetic strip, a signature strip and various terms and conditions on the bottom. In one embodiment of the invention, the lens may be placed in the card prior to the laminating process, whereby the laminate cover materials may be used to overlap the edge of the lens and help retain it in the card. The lens may be sonically welded, adhesively secured or otherwise mounted in a window in the card base, with or without utilizing the laminate material of the card to assist in framing and mounting the lens in the card.
In another embodiment, the lens is integral with the card base. In this embodiment, the card base is formed from a transparent material, such as an amorphous plastic. The stamped card base can be overprinted, laminated with printed material, etc. Thereafter, fresnel lens contours are stamped on a surface of the blank in a selected area to define the magnifying lens. A hologram may also be added after the lamination.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the inventive card comprises a substantially non-foldable yet still flexible semi-rigid base. The semi-rigid base comprises a magnifying lens. The card further comprises a strip, such as a magnetic tape strip, for carrying machine readable information, and optionally other features such as a signature strip or hologram patch.
The semi-rigid base can be a laminate formed from a plurality of layers, or can be a single layer. The magnifying lens may be formed by stamping fresnel contours directly onto a surface of the semi-rigid laminate, or a surface of a single layer. The fresnel contours are stamped into a transparent area of the laminate or single layer, and together with the transparent area form the magnifying lens.
There are also provided methods of producing a wallet card as described above. One such method comprises the steps of providing a transparent, substantially non-foldable semi-rigid base; forming a shallow cavity in the base; partially filling the cavity with a radiation or heat curable liquid resin; impressing a lens pattern on the surface of the resin with a die; and exposing the resin to radiation or heat of sufficient intensity to cure the resin.
Another method of producing a wallet card in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of making a card blank having a transparent window region; heating a lens-forming die to a first temperature sufficient to soften the card blank; impressing the lens-forming die into the window region of the card blank; cooling the lens-forming die to a second temperature at which the card blank is not significantly softened; and withdrawing the lens-forming die to leave a lens pattern on the surface of the card blank. This procedure can be realized by providing the heat to soften the card blank with a sonic source as well as more conventional heat sources to imprint the lens pattern.
In yet another embodiment, a wallet card with a magnifying lens also includes one or more lights to illuminate objects being viewed in a darkened environment. The lights are activated by a pressure switch on the card.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.